Unlike Swissair or ANZ, Aer Lingus has tried for the past decade to focus on what it should have been focussing on, trying to build its core business in Ireland. It had modest, but respectable success. It was not allowed, by unions (who had a hold on the government), to make staff compulsorily redundant and its transatlantic routes - the most successful part of the operation (then) was held down by the remnants of the Shannon stopover policy.
It was amusing, if not a little hyprocritical, to hear MO'R speak about flexibility; will she show the same level of flexibility when asked the re-consider the SNN issue, or will any impending aid from the government require this to be ditched?
The union bar on compulsory redundancies has had an effect on the airline's development; it has never had a graduate recruitment drive and basically, the only way in is from the bottom of the rung; this is undoubtedly going to cause problems in the future when the airline needs to take on new people at higher levels; it cannot, like any business, parachute all the top people in.
Its fleet needs a bit of attention, there being two types in the 110 seat class (146 and 735) and 150-160 seat class (734 and 320) - something which will probably have to be addressed fairly urgently.
Yes, of course, it has serious problems, but most - whether the US problems, F&M, the inability to make compulsory redundancies and the Shannon stop - have not been of its own making; it deserves to get through the current crisis and has the potential to be a successful carrier.